24th GP Ouest France-Plouay - 1.HC

France, August 25, 2002

Inside line pays off for Jeremy Hunt

28 year old British sprinter Jeremy Hunt (BigMat-Auber 93) has claimed the
biggest win of his career, taking today's GP Ouest France-Plouay in a bunch
sprint. In the final metres, Hunt found a gap on the barriers to come past Baden
Cooke (FDJeux.com), who had looked a certain winner with 50 m to go. Cooke was
also pipped by Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) who took second place, making
it an all-anglo podium.

Jeremy Hunt's last win came late last year in a stage of the Circuit Franco
Belge, but the GP Ouest France will eclipse that many times, being ranked only
one level below a World Cup. He now finds himself with an extra 175 UCI points,
and a lot more bargaining power for a contract next season, after his team BigMat
stops its sponsorship.

The 196 km race was held over 14 laps of the testing Circuit Jean-Yves Perron,
containing two climbs per lap: Côte de Liseux and Côte du Ty Marrec, the latter
with its summit at 4 km to go. Crowds lined the circuit for most of its 14 km
length, and organisers estimate that around 100,000 people turned out to watch
the action on a sunny August Sunday afternoon.

After the first two laps were ridden at an easy pace, the race got going on
lap three, when a flurry of attacks eventually led to a group of 19 riders getting
clear on the fourth lap. The group included danger men Paolo Bettini (Mapei),
Igor Astarloa (Saeco), Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) and Nicolas Jalabert (CSC).
Stephane Barthe (St Quentin) managed to bridge up to them, on the fifth lap.
With so many teams represented in the break, the bunch sat back and allowed
them to gain a 3'00 lead by the end of the lap.

That was considered enough by the Coast and Jean Delatour teams, who started
a serious chase to bring back the leaders. They succeeded and the break came
back on the ninth lap. However, the status quo was not maintained for very long,
as Andrea Tafi (Mapei), Nicolas Jalabert (CSC), Christophe Mengin (FDJeux.com),
and Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio) were the next riders to escape. They managed
a minute's lead, but were always kept in check by the watchful peloton, with
the Cofidis team in particular doing the work.

On the 12th lap, a good bridging move went with Luca Paolini (Mapei), Bert
De Waele (Landbouwkrediet), Marcus Zberg (Rabobank), Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Adecco),
Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r), Dave Bruylandts (Domo), Patrice Halgand, Stephane Goubert
(Jean Delatour), and Baden Cooke (FDJ). These nine managed to catch the leaders
on the same lap, but they were not organised well enough to stay away. The Cofidis
team behind them was on the front of the peloton, closing the 40 second gap
down on the 13th and penultimate lap.

From then on, many riders tried - notably Laurent Jalabert a couple of times
- but no-one succeeded in getting clear on the very fast final lap. The race
was definitely headed for a bunch sprint as they sped down the Ty Marrec for
the last time towards the finishing straight.

Christophe Mengin was leading the way for FDJ, with Andrea Tafi (Mapei) and
Baden Cooke in tow. Tafi led out the sprint with Cooke right on his wheel. The
Australian hit out very early, and looked to have the race won. But as he moved
from the left hand side of the road towards the centre, suddenly a gap opened
up which Jeremy Hunt gladly made use of, coming around on the inside in the
final 10 metres to take a very big win. Cooke was also beaten by Stuart O'Grady's
bike throw, and slammed the bars in frustration with victory so close.

Unfortunately, as Hunt crossed the line a crash near the back of the peloton
brought down a number of riders, including Alessio's Alessandro Bertolini, who
looked to be the worst hurt.